Villa Accini was a great disappointment to us. It claims three star rating but falls well short of that standard. The building and grounds generally are tired and neglected, in need of repair/ renovation and also routine maintenance and cleaning. There were many issues, but the one which most affected us was the damp problem in our room (number 11) which had lifted paint and render from a substantial section of wall and caused the growth of mould with the associated bad odour throughout the room.

We were charged an inflated price for the room. I found hotels of much higher standard actually in the town of Monterosso at around two-thirds of the cost. I queried management of Villa Accini about this and they responded by telling me that I had come through a booking agency (which interestingly had advertised 'lowest rates guaranteed') and they had loaded their normal rate to cover the 16% commission charged by the agency. The loading actually worked out to rather more than that.

Therefore my issues with Villa Accini relate partly to the hotel itself as it is not up to the standard claimed and is overpriced even at what they quoted as their direct booking rate. There is also the matter of booking through an agency when the room rate is loaded so heavily, allegedly to cover the agency commission. Of course that was not disclosed at the time of booking. As the saying goes, ’let the buyer beware!’

On a positive note, the staff were pleasant and the buffet breakfast was good.

However, overall we regard Villa Accini as an unsatisfactory hotel at an inflated price.

I booked this hotel in April for a stay in mid June and supplied my credit card number. My trip dates changed and I cancelled my reservation in early May. My cancellation was acknowledged by Pietro. On June 17 my credit card was charged $197 and subsequent emails to the property have been ignored. I now have to protest the charge to my credit card company.

OK, it' ain't cheap but it is in Montorossa, and nothing is cheap there. It is a lot cheaper than Porto Fino. Anyone complaining about the value didn't look at the alternatives. This isn't America and you can't get an $85 Holiday Inn on the Italian Rivera. This is an old villa, completely remodeled and updated. Clean, nice. New baths. Rooms vary from mid size to very small and tight. If you have a car you MUST have a hotel with parking, there is no alternative. If you have a mid-size or large car, don't take it to Montoresso. Only small cars will fit into the town or up to this hotel. Breakfast was very good, service exceptional. The staff is helpful and they speak pretty good English. This is a historic place. Stay more than one night, see Cinque Terre. Visit the other towns, take Angelo's Boat Tour. Hike. What a wonderful few days we had. Ken and Glenda from FL June 2010

This hotel is hard to find (and we had a GPS) as it sits quite a bit off the road behind an iron gate. When we finally did find it, no amount of bell ringing seemed to wake the staff to open the gate for us. We were finally able to slip in when an elderly lady happened to open the gate while cleaning an adjoining property.

The hotel is about a 1/4 mile up a steep one lane road but there is parking for a FEW cars at the top. The drive to the top is precarious as there are stone walls on each side of the path. But it is nice to have the free parking as there is precious little parking anywhere in town.

The hotel is an old family mansion that has been completely updated which makes it clean and nice - but took almost all the personality out of the property. Most rooms have a view of the Mediterranean, but ours did not. The hotel was 1/2 empty when we were there so no problem with noise. The beds are very hard and they were skimpy with pillows, But the rooms were very clean and after they give you the code to the gate - coming and going is quite easy at the hotel.